Mets fall short in 3-2 loss to Nationals

New York Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud, left, watches a ball hit by Washington Nationals' Asdrubal Cabrera, for a home run during the eighth inning a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, in New York.

NEW YORK -

Say this about the New York Mets: They certainly are gracious hosts when Washington comes to town.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit his first home run for the Nationals and tumbled over a retaining wall to make a terrific catch, leading Washington to a 3-2 victory Wednesday night, its 10th straight at Citi Field.

"They gave us every opportunity to get back in the game, and in the ninth inning we certainly had a lot of opportunities," New York manager Terry Collins said. "So yeah, this is a tough one because they gave us a chance to beat them tonight."

Rafael Soriano held on in the ninth following Travis d'Arnaud's leadoff homer, getting the final two outs after the Mets put a pair of runners in scoring position.

Matt den Dekker was thrown out at home on pinch-hitter Eric Campbell's grounder to shortstop, and the call was upheld after a replay review to determine whether catcher Wilson Ramos blocked the plate illegally.

"We were going contact on the play. Tried to get a good jump off the bat," den Dekker said. "The way I hit him, there was not really room to slide. I mean, I could have tried to go around. I slid right into him. I know he had the ball."

Curtis Granderson hit a comebacker on the next pitch, giving Soriano his 27th save in 31 tries.

"I wanted to be up, was confident for it," Granderson said. "Soriano made his pitch."

Coming off his 200th career win last Friday, Bartolo Colon (11-10) allowed two runs — one earned — in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked one.

Bryce Harper and Kevin Frandsen each hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make a winner of Jordan Zimmermann (8-5), who did not permit an earned run in 6 1-3 innings.

Drew Storen pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half, and the NL East leaders overcame three errors to win for the 24th time in their last 28 road games against the Mets dating to Sept. 12, 2011. They haven't lost in Queens since June 29 last year.

"Come out of here kind of feeling like you stole one," first baseman Adam LaRoche said.

Washington has outscored the Mets 70-20 during the winning streak at Citi Field, which ties a franchise record for the longest at one venue away from home. The Montreal Expos won 10 road games in a row against the Chicago Cubs from 1982-83.

It also matches the longest win streak by a visiting team in Queens. Atlanta won 10 consecutive games at Shea Stadium from 1991-92.

Leading 1-0, Colon gave up a leadoff double in the seventh to LaRoche. LaRoche stopped at third on a single to center by Ian Desmond, who advanced to second when Juan Lagares' high throw ticked off the glove of cutoff man Lucas Duda for an error.

That ended up hurting the Mets. Harper tied it with a sacrifice fly, Ramos singled and Frandsen put the Nationals ahead with another sacrifice fly.

"One bad pitch and they took advantage," Colon said through a translator.

Lagares also popped up a bunt for the first out in the ninth.

Cabrera connected in the eighth off Jeurys Familia, who has yielded only two homers in 60 1-3 innings. The two-time All-Star hit nine home runs for Cleveland this season before he was dealt to Washington at the July 31 trade deadline.

In the bottom half, Cabrera bolted from his spot at second base and made a running catch of Granderson's foul pop just before hitting a low retaining wall and going head over heels.

Frandsen handed New York its first run when he dropped d'Arnaud's fourth-inning fly in front of the left-field warning track.

COMING UP EMPTY

Washington committed two errors in the seventh, when the Mets loaded the bases with one out. Storen came on and got Wilmer Flores to ground into a force at the plate before striking out pinch-hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis, preserving a one-run advantage.

The Mets are 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position through the first two games of the series.

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